


The Hug

by nick_i_kenicki



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hugs, Loneliness, Talking, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Season 2 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nick_i_kenicki/pseuds/nick_i_kenicki
Summary: *Slight Season 2 Spoilers*Vanya looks at Five and sees both a lonely old man and a foolish kid. She doesn't know why he does the things he does, but she does know that one is never too old for a hug.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 6
Kudos: 84





	The Hug

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically set directly after they get home at the end of Season 2, but if the Sparrow Academy wasn't there immediately and the siblings had a few days of down time to get settled back in. Also there's no Beta so sorry lol

After everything they had been through, seeing Five in his old pajamas in a nest of blankets didn't seem right. Both too big and too small. Out of context, like the farm when Carl was home. A strange place outside of the narrative where Vanya worked to remember. 

Since she remembered her life before Sissy and Harlan, everything came to light. It all felt so new. Like a dream state in those first few moments awake. Too new. The boy in front of her, the one that was decades older than her despite his features, was the same. The main character of a dreamy illusion. She understood it, just barely.

Still, Vanya couldn't help but marvel at Five. Back hunched like it was supposed to hurt, knees drawn like they should have ached, but the same round face. The face of a child. It was like he had just stepped out of the portrait. A little wiser maybe. Just a smidge sadder. That youthful smugness wasn't there anymore. Sure, Five had his moments, but they were tendered by age and weathered by experience. He didn't think, he knew. Everytime. 

He called her to his room to talk. The gesture was familiar but the energy was tense. The others were all off either getting their bearings or sleeping in makeshift spots in the main room. Only she and Five were restless.

Vanya opened the door, took the sight of him in as discreetly as she could, then sat on a chair across from his bed. He sat up and folded his hands, the posture of a CEO about to lay off his oldest employee.

"I apologized to Dad," Five said without much prompting, in that matter of fact monotone. Despite the word 'Dad' sounding foreign on his tongue, a strange hint of vulnerability poked through. It was like he was waiting to be asked about it. A little more childlike in his thirst for validation than either of them could have predicted.

Vanya was happy to oblige his unspoken request, despite her confusion. She straightened her posture to match his, held a breath in her throat, then asked. "Why would you do that?"

Five crossed his legs, slow and deliberate. With sudden clarity, he sensed the conversation wasn't going to go the way he planned. Everything with the Hargreeves was a gamble, and apparently he had forgotten just how easy it was to lose track of his standing. He chose his next words carefully, baby steps on thin ice. "Mainly for all the shit I gave him back then."

Vanya blinked, then furrowed her brow. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what emotion she was feeling, but confusion and anger had wrestled their way to the top. They bubbled gaseous hot and a chilling freeze. She let them both wash over her. 

"You . . . apologized." It wasn't a question. Vanya just turned the word around in her head to make sure she was absolutely right before speaking again. "To Dad?"

"Yes," Five replied.

She looked him over with the same eyes she used to watch Carl. With a resentment she couldn't quite place. At least she knew her disappointment in Five came from a place of love. She reminded herself that if she didn't care, she wouldn't even try to make him see how wrong he was. It wouldn't hurt nearly as much.

"It's been awhile for you, so you don't remember how it wasn't just hard for me and Klaus," Vanya said with an incredulous stare. "He was bad to all of us."

"You think I don't know that Vanya? That I haven't had years to think about everything?" He said, narrowing his eyes and leaning forward.

Five looked like he wanted to snap at her, but held himself back before he could. He put his hands up and said, "Either way. I don't want to fight about this." A perfectly adult answer. It was like Vanya was missing her naptime and he just wanted the rest of the day to go by smoothly. Vanya hated that. She hated when he deferred.

She glanced at him, then held his gaze when he met her eyes. "No, you just don't want to fight me." Surges of something white hot coursed through her veins, but a cool wave of understanding kept it in check. She had to remind herself that she understood Five even if she didn't understand everything he'd gone through. She took a breath and tried a different angle.

"You know, you pride yourself on being better than all of us, but can you really say that it was hard? We were a mess, Five. And with Dad back in the picture, you were too." Vanya explained. "And can you blame yourself? Being back here has to make the hurt feel a Hell of a lot fresher."

Five contemplated that for a moment, at least giving her the respect of considering her point, then spoke. "I don't like this new Vanya." Another perfectly adult answer. This time, a father who had lost his daughter to a wrong crowd. It didn't suit him. Really listening didn't seem to either.

"Sissy taught me a few things about standing up for myself." Vanya said with a resigned shrug.

Five smirked at that and leaned back on his bed. While he was good at making things work, he wasn't great at making them last. He was a master at burning bridges and in his young body, he was stuck. Where would a young teenager go alone anyways? Sneak into a hotel looking like a lost child? Wander around the city with the look of a child on a milk carton? No. No matter how much he'd deny it, all Five had was the academy.

When the others undoubtedly left again, all they would have is each other. 

Some form of that realization must have dawned on Five. He relaxed and eased back onto his bed. He watched Vanya as he spoke. "You know, there were nights, back then, when I dreamed about home. They were mostly about you, Ben and Pogo." He smiled at that, like his own needs were somehow funny.

"Maybe I grew up too fast. Maybe we all did," he continued. "There's no mommy to hug you back to sleep when you have nightmares in the apocalypse, so I got used to it. I got over it."

Vanya spoke before she could censor herself. "You don't have to just get used to it. You can still take your time, experience the stuff you missed out on. I could even hug you."

The immediate silence that followed her declaration was so heavy, that Vanya stood to leave. Five's voice rang out before she could turn to the door though.

"Wait, Vanya," Five said, while holding up a finger. "Just wait."

Vanya stopped in her place and looked back. Five's eyes darted from her to the floor. Always planning and scheming, working out the situation in his head to see if this was some kind of trap. Like their Dad would waltz out from the shadows and reprimand them. He twisted his mouth to speak but the words didn't come.

Vanya took the chance to give life to them. "Would you like a hug?"

Five knit his eyebrows, the first sign that there was a hint of distress behind that immediate dismissal. He eyed Vanya up and down twice before giving in with a timid, ". . . Okay."

Vanya came over and gingerly wrapped her arms around Five's frame and held him tight. There was a beat, a moment of conscious effort on his part not to struggle against it. A pause to collect his thoughts and realize that he was in no immediate danger. That whoever Vanya was, whoever she had been before– didn't matter anymore. The only thing she was now was his sister.

Five inhaled slowly and let it out before raising his arms to mimic hers. It was odd. Vanya had gotten hugs before. Polite embraces from Allison, aggressive holds from Klaus and a potentially false memory of Diego pulling her close as small children, but it was all so foggy. She imagined it was doubly strange for Five. 

He felt so small. Gangly, sure, but much littler than she had expected. Compared to Harlan, who was right on track for his growth spurt, Five seemed to waste away. Had he been that small when they were kids or had Vanya just been that much smaller?

She couldn't be sure, but she reveled in the feeling of relief. Five was home, he was alive and they were all together. The way his bony hands gripped the back of her shirt was a clear indication he felt the same way, even if he didn't use his words.

After a moment, Vanya pulled away. Five let her go, eyes averted to the floor. Neither knew exactly what to say or how to say it, so they didn't. Vanya collected her thoughts and headed for the door again. On her way out, she heard Five's voice, more quiet than she had ever known it say, "Thank you."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this, please leave a comment if you'd like more wholesome tua family fics.


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